The present invention relates to a device for transporting printed products.
A saddle stitcher, for example, may collate signatures to assemble complete sets of signatures and bind them together using stitches. The signatures are opened to the center fold and collated by feeding mechanisms onto a saddle raceway to be conveyed past a stitching mechanism. These bound signatures, or books, are then removed from the saddle conveyor for further processing, such as trimming the unbound edges.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0225023, hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a device for transporting printed products that permits removal of signatures from a saddle conveyor. A first conveyor moves a plurality of folded signatures in a first direction and a second conveyor includes a rotating blade device for lifting a signature from the first conveyor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,141 discloses a method and device for conveying signatures from a blade chain conveyor supporting the signatures directly at a fold line. The signatures are gripped from above by orbitally-rotating clamping pads, which then transfer the signatures to a belt conveyor perpendicular to the blade chain conveyor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,145 discloses a tucker blade mechanism which contacts the folded edge of the signature from below the saddle conveyor. The tucker blade mechanism moves the signature forwardly and upwardly from the saddle conveyor as it moves in a vertical plane through a path which is oblique relative to the saddle conveyor.